Apparatus for concentrating ore



1,472,670 A. H. PENFIELD I APPARATUS FOB- CONCENTRATING ORE ot.v 3o, 1923.

Filed Aug. ll. 1922 Patented Oct. 30, 1923.

UNITED. STATES ARTHUR H. PENFTELD, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS nony oononNfrnnmrivefi one;

Application filed August 11, 1922; SeralNm 581,157.

To allwmmi may concern.' n

Beit known thatI, ARTHUR H. PE-NFLELD, citizen ofthe United States, residingV at New York, in the county of Queens and State of-New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Concentrating Ore, ofwhich the follow? ingv is a specification'. i

The invention relates to improvements 1n an apparatus for concentrating ores. It has been proposed in the prior art to separate ore from gangue by passing" the ore and gangue suspended in water through a series offcontainers wherea partialseparation has been effected, but these prior art attempts have not been highly successful due to the formation of' eddies` in the water travel which causes. gianglue to become mixed with the concentrate; l t v It is lan objectY of thisjinvention to provide a means for concentrating ores wherein a sharp and clear separa-tion of the metallic substances from the gangue' effected. With this conception in mind the invention more specifically'contemplates an apparatus wherein no opportunity for the formation ofeddies in the flowing water ispresented, thereby resulting inV a clean and effective separation of the ore from the gan e.

In carryingoutmy invention I preferably y employ ani apparatus consisting ofa series otl communicating,vertically disposed compartments. in the lowerone of" which I ad# mit .water and comminuted ore. and gangue and continuato admit. such materials. until thewater risesandfill'sgall ofthe receptacles and flows outv ythrough 4apdischarge pipe; When` the` receptacles Iare filled and a concentration ofore, has resulted, I then Close the valves of" the two upper receptacles leaving the water and oreineach compartf ment quiescent for a period thereafter-and opening the valve, in the, lower comparte` ments to discharge the concentrate therein. The ,valves ofv the, two ,upper receptacles kare then opened. tol discharge4 theconcentrate after which. the compartmentsV are flushed with a stream, of, water., .It will be. understood*y that.. the compartments are all4 pro-` vided rwith smooth round surf-aces toprevent theformation of eddies, and that likewise each receptacle is?providedzwithav control,- ling valve:y y n v In the accompanying, drawings. I have shown a preferred embodiment of thisl inventi'on.

In the draWinga-Figure l represents a vertical sectional view of the apparatus showing valves opened; and Figure 2 is. a asimilar View to .Figure l showing valves closed. v

Referring now morek particularly to the drzmfings,` wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts, `the numeral l designates a base or support which may he of any convenient form.V Positioned on this support. on hase-are a plurality of ore eompartmentsJQ, 3 and 4v communicating throughconduits 5 and 5 which conduits receive valves 6 and 6. The lowercompart-` ment l is also provided with a disch-arge 'T controlled by a manually operable valve 8; As is clearly'disclosed in thedrawings-the Walls of the compartments 2, 35 and? 4: are all formedso as tofv presenty smoothuandcon'- tinu'ous surfaces for reasonswhichrwill here inaiter appear andi likewise thesel compartments areof progressively increasingoap'ac` ities; f

Positioned adjacent the compartment 4 isy hopper 9 mountedupon av` support I0 and c.ommunicatingwith the upper'portion of this `compartment througha pipe Il' receiving ay screw'feed conveyor l'operated by the pulley 13; Pulverizedl ore and containedgangue arerintro'cluced to the hopper y ll and fed by the conveyor l2 directly into the lower compartment 4. Into thisA compartment 4 I' also 'introdiicel a water feed pipe'ld, which extends downwardly'through y the compartment t'o' a lowerend communii eating withy a wat'erfeedV pipeY l5 controlled hy'theyalveA 161 Al/Vater' is thusintroduced to the lower pari; of' the compartmentlwhen the valve 8 has been closed and oreA likewise enters said compartment through the feed-11;

A water feed pipe 17 communicates with the feed 15 and enters the upper compartment through the valve controlled handle 18'. Ordinarily, this valve is closedand is," usually only opened when a cleaning of the compartment is desired. The.: upper com.-

partm-ent 2V communicates withthe waterV outletV pipe 19 leading,*therefrom and'. controlledby thei valveQOL k,This pipe is an exit for any suspended gangue contained in the rising water that haspassed through the compartments 2, 3 and 4.

' been lled with concentrate, it lbeing understood that during this npflo-wing action of the water no Veddies or local currents are formed and that the continuously flowing water which travels at a substantially uniform velocity through the compartments carrying in suspension Vtherein the tine particles of gangue which are Vdischarged through the outlet 19. :By arranging the walls of the compartments'in the manner'.

disclosed local eddies or disturbances of the water are prevented and in this way the gangue is not caused to mix or become associated vwith the settling concentrate which begins to settle as soon as it is introduced to the different compartments. The velocity of the water is of course so regulated that the concentrate will settle while the lighter gangue flows out through the outlet pipe 19.

After the compartments have been substantially filled with concentrate the tlow of water and the ore through the feeds ll and 15 respectively is discontinued and the valves 6 and 6 closed. rl`he ore in the different compartments 2, 3 and t is then permitted to settle which occurs in a short period of time because of the stagnant condition of the water and when this concentrate has settled the valve 8 of the lower compartment is opened and the contents of this compartment discharged into a suitableV receiver through the pipe 8. 'When the contents Vof this compartment vhave been discharged then the valves 6 and 6f are opened and:y the concentrate in the compartments 2 and`3-to gether `with the water discharges through thecompartment e `and out through the out let 5. The valve V18 is then opened in the water feed pipe'l'? and the compartments then flooded or cleansed by Aa supply of water-flowing therethrough. Thevalve 8 is then closed and the valves 6 and 6 opened and a new supply of water introduced to the compartment 4 wherein the operation above described is repeated.

Having thus described my invention, what I lclaim is:

l. An ore concentrating apparatus having .a plurality of Suspension compartments,

communications between said compartments,

means forintroducing ore and water to the lower compartment to kpass through said communicating compartments wherein the ore settles, means for discharging water and gangue from one ofthe compartments, valves in said communications between said compartments, and: means for operating said valves.

water to the upper com `valves in said communications between said compartments, means for operating' said valves, and a flushing pipe for conducting aartments and a valvev controllinfr said pipa 3. An ore concentrating apparatus comprising a plurality of suspension compa-rtf" ments having smooth continuous inner surfaces, communications between. said compartments, means for introducing ore and water to the Alower compartment to vpass through said Vcommunicating compartments wherein no eddies are formed and the ore settles, means for discharging water and gangue from one of said compartments, valves in said communications between said compartment. and means for operating the valve.l Y V 4. ln an ore concentrating apparatus, the combination with a plurality of communieating compartments, means for introduo ing ore in ywater suspension to one of said compartments to pass successively through the communicating compartments where ore settles, means for discharging water with suspended gangue from one of the compartments, and means for discharging the set tled ore separated from its `gangue from said compartments. Y

5. In an ore concentrating apparatus7 the combination with a plurality of communieating compartments, means for introducing ore in water suspension to one of said 'com-I partments to pass successively through the communicating compartments where ore settles, manually operable valves between said compartments, means for discharging water with suspended gangue from one of the compartments, means for. discharging thesettled ore separated from itsgangue from said compartments, and means for liushing each compartment including manually operable valves, one valve being provided for each compartment whereby the contents of the compartments Vmay be independently discharged after the discharge of ore there# from.

6. An ore concentrating apparatus, comprising a'plurality of vertical compartments, eachy having smooth inner surfaces, communications between said compartments, means for feeding ore in water suspension to the lower compartment to pass successively through said compartments'and into which compartments the ore settles, valves between said compartments, meansfor Vdischarging the water'with suspended .gangue from the llO lower compartment to pass successively through said compartments and into which compartments the ore settles, means for discharffing the water with suspended gangue from the upper compartment, means for discharging the separated ore accumulating lin each of said compartments, said means including a discharge from the lower co1n` partment, and valves in the communications between the successive compartment-s, said valves being adapted to be closed when water and ore are no longer admitted to the lower compartment to permit the ores there-V in to rapidly settle, and means for independently operating the valves so that they may be opened successively.

8. ln an ore concentrating apparatus, the combination with a plurality of vertically disposed compartments of progressively decreasing sizes,eaoh of said compartments having smooth inner surfaces, means for establishing communicationbetween said comn `partments, valves in said communications,

means for feeding ore in water suspension to the lower compartment to pass successively through said vcommunicating` compartments where the ore settles, means for discharging gangue in Water suspension from Aone of said compartments, and vmeans for discharging` the separated or accumulating in said compartments.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ARTHUR H. PENFIELD. 

